Uncloset
by Supey
Summary: alternative out karofsky drabz


**Outed**

So only the dudes on the team who already did Glee are watching as he stands there, fingers twitching open and closed, shoulders fat and raised under his jersey's puffy sleeves. Dave tries not to look at anybody except Mr. Schuester. Not exactly his favorite teacher. Part of him starts going _you should be _anywhere_ else, dude_. Right now he kind of wishes he could be anywhere else, if there is anywhere else.

But here he is, and he doesn't know the first thing about doing whatever they do in this room.

So Mr. Schuester asks him to pick a favorite song, and he opens his mouth, and just stops there. They're all kind of waiting expectantly.

Santana Lopez, bitch of the month, is the first to say it, in that matter of fact way that even his brain couldn't put down so bluntly.

"Now you're a loser, too, Karofsky. And you crawl to us?"

Yeah, he's a slushie target. Well, he would be, but nobody's really dared to harass him to his face outside the locker room. "I-"

"You know what?" She says, leaning back in her chair, arms crossed. "You can find your own damn support system. Because you have personally given every person in this room hell over the past year and a half."

"You tell him, girl," Mike Chang says from the back.

"Guys, the glee club is meant to be a safe zone. Don't you all know what it's like to be bullied? David could use a friend right now." Mr. Schuester rests a hand on Dave's shoulder, and it's all he can do not to smack it away or squeeze his eyes shut. This is the worst situation ever. This is worse than Azimio taking back his old Madden discs and not even leaving a note.

"Yeah, Mr. Schue, we _do_ know what it's like to be harassed," Abrams pipes up. "Courtesy of who? This guy."

Dave gets the impression that this is the part where he's supposed to say something, since he's turned to face the assortment of nerd club members at this point, but no words come to mind. It's Britt Pierce who speaks next.

"If we let you join, you'd be the new Kurt." In the corner, Sunshine Corazon's eyes narrow dangerously. "And I just don't think you're hot enough for that."

For the first time, Dave discovers a connection with the Glee kids; they're all staring at Brittany with the same dumbfounded expression he's experiencing.

She shrugs. "I feel things for Kurt Hummel."

**Just Out**

"Hey, Dave, you try this Greek yogurt yet? It's really good," Azimio said.

Terry laughed. "Naw, man, Karofsky prefers _fruit on the bottom_."

The lunch table exploded into laugher and catcalls. Dave shook his head, grinning, as Azimio pounded him on the back. "_Snap_," his friend said. Dave grabbed Azimio's spoon as response and shoved it in his own mouth.

"Yeah, yeah, I am sympathetic with you, Karofsky," Hessian said. "I see them blueberry chunks and shit and I just can't control myself either."

"Hey, man, I'm single," Dave said. He pulled the spoon out of his mouth slowly, licking along the edge, before Azimio snagged it out of his hand again. "Anytime." Anthony winked at Pat across the table. "Wow, that _is_ good," Dave added.

"I know, right?" Azimio said.

"That's right – Azimio, how'd it go with Meg Kennedy, huh?" Terry leaned forward again.

It was Azimio's turn to grin as he launched into a story of conquest and bliss until the lunch bell cut him short and all the guys got up with their trays and bags and headed to sixth period.

Dave was just tossing his Gatorade bottle when Kurt Hummel cornered him at the trash bin, arms crossed.

"Single no more," somebody shouted on the way past. Dave caught sight of Azimio fist-pumping at him from across a gaggle of freshman girls, and he laughed and shook his head, glancing at Kurt warily.

"What's up?" he said.

"What's up? _That_," Kurt said, gesturing to where Karofsky's friends had been, "is what is up. What are you _doing_?"

"Uh, eating lunch?"

Kurt stepped right into his personal bubble then, practically hissing. "I have been the only out gay kid in this school since sophomore year, and you think you can just come out one day in the middle of Trig and-"

"Hummel. Are you jealous that I have friends? 'Cause that's what it sounds like."

"I just have a problem with the way you are choosing to conduct yourself as a representative of the greater LGBT community."

"Look, dude," Dave said, falling into step beside Kurt past rows of lockers. "I can't help it if I'm in varsity sports. You know how popularity works. Maybe you got such a tough time-"

"-Because I was asking for it?" Kurt said dryly, asshole eyebrow raise in place.

_Kinda,_ Dave thought, but he didn't give voice to that inclination. He didn't say much of what he thought around Kurt anymore, not since he'd had to transfer back. Not since they'd had a talk. Not since his Facebook friend request was _finally_ accepted and he didn't want to push it.

"Look," he said finally, rubbing his face with a hand. "I'm sorry for the shit you take, we've already had the conversation about what a massive asshole I was as an underclassman. We don't even do the slushie thing anymore, in case you hadn't noticed. Maybe you just need to give people in general another chance, Kurt. It's senior year."

"Kurt?" the other boy repeated. "So we're on first-name terms now?"

Dave threw up his hands and walked away in silence.

"He is such a bitch," he muttered to Azimio as they changed before practice. "It _never ends_."

"See, man, sometimes I feel like a bigger person for not pushing people around so much after Sylvester's massive hallway war last year, and then I get in a conversation with a Glee kid," Azimio replied. "I'm pretty sure they're why hazing was _invented_."

Dave nodded his head and rolled his eyes. Evans was giving them a funny look from his locker but Dave shot him a grin and a shrug and the guy turned back to his own stuff.


End file.
